If I was Cat, I would happily meow Happy Birthday, and spin in your lap comfortable dreaming away. But amidst difficult times, tough situations and harsh circumstances, you are the living example that we can sail through any storm of life. Happy birthday sweetheart. I hope I can make it truly a happy day, week, month and years to come. If I was a teddy bear, I would give unconditional love hugs and millions of kisses. But even being human I feel I want to do everything to give you, with every breath the love you earn as the most precious human being on this earth. So special, so natural, so lovely and without doubt your hands as they are touching things to change in magic.

I am deep in your debt and can’t express enough gratitude for al you do and all the love you fulfill selflessly every day in our house, our live without hesitation to show your true love to reach our destination.

(By Clara B, Freeman). Many who should be leaders are afraid to step up and become what they know in the bosoms of their existence, is their supernatural calling. It’s so much easier to remain followers. I don’t believe leaders are born, I think they are made to see things differently than others. I think leaders ‘see’ what others can’t even fathom.

What makes an effective, trusted and respected leader? What makes them special? There are the obvious dynamics of course; learning from life experiences, discipline, a strong work ethic and a core belief system. These core values stem from parental upbringing, environmental and behavioral observations and institutional learning, some of which are carried into adulthood.I learned morals, empathy, perseverance, faith and compassion from my mother. I learned to appreciate value of hard work and the almighty dollar from my dad. Daddy used to say as long as you work, you’re never broke. If daddy was alive today, he’d get a loving adult daughter rebuttal on that one:) We all have an affinity for learning from our parents who are our first teachers and more often than not, we tend to accept these lessons as truth.

As leaders age, there’s a tendency to not go along with the status quo as easily. Where the degree or certification is viewed as a prerequisite to great leadership advantages, these people who would be leaders know book sense and common sense are not always interchangeable and so they might consider an alternative and forge ahead to discover their own truths. If you’re a team player who is a follower in medicine, technology, the arts or any area of your living, and you carry an overwhelming desire to lead others in your heart; a desire to making something from nothing or make an impact in the lives of others, now is the time to believe in yourself and do what you feel you were created to do. Step away from the sameness and do that great thing you’ve always wanted to do. Trust and believe someone is waiting for you to lead the charge.

Leadership Qualities:

When you practice the golden rule of treating people the way you want to be treated, in business and in your personal life, you earn trust and belief from those looking to be a part of a winning team. To be an effective leader you must leave your ego at the door. Leaders don’t use their power to lord over or to belittle others. A true leader doesn’t use their power to abuse or demean; but to uplift, encourage and invoke creative solutions to challenging problems.

Don’t be aggressive in your leadership or quick to anger. Instead practice assertive decorum and lead by example. Don’t mix business with pleasure or give your employees ammunition to disrespect your leadership. Steve Harvey wrote a scolding and scorching letter to his employees recently, berating them for approaching him, whenever. Perhaps if he’d initiated a policy and procedure manual upon hiring, mandated to all of his employees, they might have gotten the memo that Mr. Harvey wasn’t their ‘ride and die’ but their employer. You show people how you want to be treated.

The more you know, the more you grow in the role of a leader. The visionaries, motivators and innovators in leadership positions are often led by their desire to see greatness in others and are willing to teach others what they have learned. If you have been sabotaging your leadership abilities because you are afraid of failure or even success in your new role, now’s the time to stop the madness of negativity and fear. Step out on faith and keep going. If you fail, try again and if you fail again, keep trying until you’ve given it all you got. Nothing hurts worse than never giving ‘U’ a chance.

Sometimes You Don’t Want The Responsibility

I spent over 30 years in a leadership position during my nursing career. There were many times I felt that I didn’t want the headache. Through trial and error of coping and strategizing on how to handle people attitudes and sensibilities, I got better at what I called my lot in life. I settled into my calling and people took notice. Over the years, I’ve spoken to patients and their family members, women and male co-workers seeking advice or a listening ear. I became someone I never asked to become…mentor, advisor, confidant, encourager and motivator.

I’ve always been sensitive to the needs of children, not only because I’m a mother, but because children are innocent and look to adults for their protection and unconditional love. I’ve advocated for the safety of children on the school grounds and in gang infested neighborhoods… I’ve sat in awe of the elder wisdom as I’ve bathed them and dressed their wounds, sat at their bedside to hear their stories of happiness and regret. I’ve heard about their childhoods, marriages and their love for nature and music. I’ve heard the unspoken yearning for human connection in their aged voices. No woman is an island and so we have to love ourselves enough. We have to choose our battles wisely, where our voices reach the furthest.

Women of a certain age were the catalyst for Authentic Woman in 2008. I wanted a place where women could share their stories and speak their truths. It was a mirror to the reflection of our younger selves who were quickly growing into our older selves. In writing, talking , hosting and connecting with women, the dynamic of the woman voice changed. Women from all over the world, every ethnicity and every age stop by here, either to read, comment, or grab an email address to share concerns and seek help in making an informed decision. I’ve welcomed every voice!

I don’t want to change my blog’s message. I wanted to extend the longevity of Authentic Woman and so I wrote Unleash Your Pearls Empowering Women’s Voices as an invitation to all women who want to share in the woman journey. This is a book from authentic life lessons, interactions with other women voices and from my heart on life challenges and its triumphs. If you haven’t gotten your copy of Unleash Your Pearls, contact me via the book’s email-unleashyourpearls@yahoo.com.

I hope that you continue to live your one special life on your terms and keep doing what makes you happy. I look forward to reading your comments and encourage you on your mission journey. I know you will make a positive impact in the minds and hearts of others.Because my journey has brought me to other avenues to explore in the phase of my living, I will be taking an indefinite leave from my blogs. I won’t leave social media entirely, but , for now, this is my final posting at Authentic Woman. My goal is to continue to do work that brings awareness and help empower the voiceless.

Women in particular struggle to get funding. They face huge barriers despite a wealth of evidence that has shown that investing in women has a transformative impact on their whole community: Income in the hands of a mother influences child’s health that’s almost 20 times greater than when controlled by a father – United Nations Development Program study

Time spent worrying – about anything – provides no emotional or physical benefit to us; such things only weaken us for the fights we must endure in our lives. “It’s not about being ready or feeling prepared all the time; sometimes you just have to do what you know you have to do. And when you do – you will always see that you’re more ready and more prepared than you realize”

How can you deal with self-doubt in a constructive way?

Stop Making Excuses

The enemy is our chattering brain, which, if we give it so much as a nanosecond, will start producing excuses, alibis, transparent self-justifications, and a million reasons why we can’t/shouldn’t/won’t do what we know we need to do

Beware Of Your Close Circle

Our circle of people may make us feel good, but they’re not always good for us. In fact, we could be a pawn in their game; unwitting accomplices in helping them achieve an unhealthy degree of power and influence over our decisions and actions.

Raise Your Self-Awareness

Self-awareness can be developed. Spend some time recognizing areas you need to develop and intentionally making an effort to develop or strengthen that aspect of yourself.

So, how can you become more aware of your strengths and areas for development?

You could

Rate Yourself: What do you think your strengths are?

Ask others for feedback: Be open to hearing what others think of you.

Complete a formal assessment test. These could include a personality test, discovering your values, your skills, and your abilities.

Practice Self-Compassion

Self-compassion isn’t self-pity (Poor me, I shouldn’t feel this bad!) or irresponsibility (I messed up? Who cares!) or even self-esteem (As long as I succeed, I feel good). It’s about recognizing that feeling down is part of the shared human experience and mindfully refraining from judging yourself.

It’s important to listen, because the way you talk to yourself—especially when you’ve failed in some way—has an impact on your health, mood, and even your relationships with others. Do you admonish yourself for screwing up, or do you gently remind yourself that you’re only human and you’ll try harder next time?

Making mistakes, fumbling, and losing your cool are an inevitable part of the human experience—but most of us turn these slip-ups into an opportunity to beat ourselves up for being less than perfect. But when we see ourselves as a hopeless failure, we close our heart down to ourselves and to others.

If you mind is full of chatter, you will not be able to perceive what’s in front of you. The chatter will distort and block your thinking. A little more about our thinking. Most people think that they are what their thoughts tell them they are. One day I noticed that I wasn’t breathing—I was being breathed. Then I also noticed, to my amazement, that I wasn’t thinking—that I was actually being thought and that thinking isn’t personal. Do you wake up in the morning and say to yourself, “I think I won’t think today”? It’s too late: You’re already thinking! Thoughts just appear. They come out of nothing and go back to nothing, like clouds moving across the empty sky. They come to pass, not to stay. There is no harm in them until we attach to them as if they were true.

No one has ever been able to control his thinking, although people may tell the story of how they have.

I don’t let go of my thoughts—I meet them with understanding. Then they let go of me.

Thoughts are like the breeze or the leaves on the trees or the raindrops falling. They appear like that, and through inquiry we can make friends with them. Would you argue with a raindrop? Raindrops aren’t personal, and neither are thoughts. Once a painful concept is met with understanding, the next time it appears you may find it interesting. What used to be the nightmare is now just interesting. The next time it appears, you may find it funny. The next time, you may not even notice it. This is the power of loving what is.

Men and women communicate differently. That is no secret. In order for women in developing countries to learn to share power with men, and thereby become more effective in promoting food security, rural development, and contribute to other societal advancement, we must become critically aware of gender-sensitive communication. These are vital building blocks that will have an impact on generations to come.

Poverty has a different definition in the emerging world than it does in developed nations. The term ‘poverty’ is used broadly in the emerging world to include lack of material resources, minimal or no access to healthcare, limited access to education and information, deprivation of civil rights, minimal — if any — access to economic growth opportunity, professional training and access to capital. In broad strokes, alleviation of proverty would mean betterment of any of these challenges, although measurement of improvement is difficult to measure. Change takes time. A fast track to addressing poverty at all of its levels is access to information. Access to mobile communication is the difference between abject poverty and hope.

This hope will quickly turn into action as newly empowered communities will have access to information beyond the traditional media of television, radio and telephone, which are now all accessible via Internet. Great personal evolution and economic growth will result when previously isolated communities reach out to the rest of the world. Likely, their shortcut to commerce come through embracing digital currencies over cumbersome microfinance instruments.

At Powerstorm Capital Corp., we see a future on the near horizon where our hybrid power solutions will greatly contribute to establishment of thriving communities throughout the emerging world.